Road construction picks up 36% this year

The government's ambitious plan to increase the pace of road construction has started showing results. During April-September 2015, the total length of the road constructed in the country under various programmes of the road ministry was 36 per cent higher than the corresponding period the last financial year.

According to the ministry of road, transport and highways data, 2,446 km of roads, including highways, were constructed during April-September 2015 compared to 1,795 km during the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Also, the award of contracts for 4,482 km of roads this year was much higher than the last year's 1,809 km.

Officials added road construction would further gain momentum in the coming months since the pace of construction during the month of July-August is slow because of monsoon. It is likely to touch 10,000 km compared to 6,308 km last year.

According to analysts, the government took a slew of measures in the last one-and-a-half year for dealing with stalled or slow pace of projects, which revived investors confidence in the road and highways sector. The government has streamlined the prior statutory approvals for the construction without any hitch. Projects are now being awarded only after securing environment clearance and 80 per cent of land. For example, in case of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the total land acquired was 4,272 hectares during April-August 2015. It is planning to acquire around 10,000 hectares in the current financial year compared to 6,733 hectares in the last financial year.

Considering that monitoring and quick resolution of issues pertaining to individual projects is important for faster completion of projects, Union Minister of Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari constituted a review committee for roads in March this year. The committee meets every month to take stock of the progress, while during the previous regime, it was done on a quarterly basis by the chief engineer (monitoring).

The committee is headed by the additional director general (roads) as its chairman and other concerned ministry official and executing agency officials as its members. "The committee chairman takes stock of the ongoing projects agency wise, scheme wise, zone wise, etc. If there is any problem, which results in delay of a particular project, then remedial solution is discussed," said a senior official.

Also, Gadkari takes up issues at inter-ministerial level for expediting projects. Besides, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) also reviews projects.

Gadkari had earlier said the pace of road construction came down to mere two km a day before the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power. He said he has set a target of constructing 30 km of roads per day.

Also, in near future, the government has decided to use Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)-aided satellites and drones to monitor its highways construction programme, aimed at fast-tracking building of roads in the country. A pact with Isro will be inked soon in this connection.